Women's Basketball Comeback Falls Short in 66-62 Loss to UMass Dartmouth

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team withstood a second half rally as the visiting Corsairs downed Bridgewater State University, 66-62, on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Corsairs improve to 4-1 on the young season, while the host Bears fall to 0-2. UMass has won each of the last five meetings of the two teams.

Sophomore forward Shaelyn Carreiro (Fall River, Mass.) and senior guard Ashley Brown (New Bedford, Mass.) each posted double-doubles to pace the visitors. Carreiro tallied a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a pair of steals, while Brown filled the stat sheet with 17 points, 11 boards, eight assists, three steals and a blocked shot. Sophomore guard Jordan Moretti (Johnston, R.I.) added 11 points, four assists and a steal for the Corsairs.

Sophomore guards Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) and Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) each netted career highs in points to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Olivia Dziadyk scored 18 points on 4 of 5 shooting from three-point range. She also added four rebounds, five assists and a steal. Hannah Dziadyk went 4-for-9 from behind the arc as she checked in with 12 points, three boards and three helpers. Sophomore forward Maggie Hester (Braintree, Mass.) also contributed a career-high ten points and nine rebounds for the Bears to go along with three assists and a blocked shot.

The Bears trailed 17-13 at the end of one. A traditional three-point play by Brown closed out the first-quarter scoring. UMass carried the momentum in the second period as a pair of three-pointers by sophomore guard Jessica Carroll (Deep River, Conn.) and Moretti, followed by a Carreiro layup capped off a 10-2 run and gave the Corsairs a 25-15 lead. UMass held the Bears to just eight points in the second quarter and closed out the stanza with an 8-0 run to take a 35-21 lead into halftime. Moretti and junior guard Meagan Donovan (Abington, Mass.) tallied four points apiece during the spurt.

UMass shot 33% (10-30) in the first half including 4-for-9 (44%) from behind the arc. The Corsairs also went 11-for-15 (73%) at the free throw line. Bridgewater connected on just 24% (9-37) of its field goal attempts over the first 20 minutes and went 2-for-11 (18%) from three-point range. The two teams combined for 23 turnovers in the first half.

A 10-3 BSU run to open the third quarter, highlighted by a pair of trifectas from Hannah Dziadyk, closed the gap to 38-31. The Corsairs, however, answered with 11 straight points to take their biggest lead of the game, 49-31, with 2:47 remaining in the period. Brown and Carreiro tallied four points apiece during the 11-point spurt.

The Bears dominated the final two minutes of the third quarter and carried that momentum into the fourth. A 15-3 run encompassing both periods cut the deficit to 52-46 with 7 ½ minutes left to play. Olivia Dziadyk tallied five points during the run while senior guard Nicole Bostick (East Taunton, Mass.) added four.

After a Brown layup, Olivia Dziadyk drained a three-pointer to make it a five-point game, 54-49. Later in the period, Dziadyk knocked down another trifecta to pull the Bears to within four, 58-54, with 4:10 showing on the scoreboard.

Uncontested layups by Carreiro on three consecutive UMD possessions, however, pushed the Corsairs' lead back up to eight, 64-56, with 2:42 remaining.

The Bears forced turnovers on the Corsairs' next three possessions, but capitalized on just one. A Hannah Dziadyk three-pointer pulled the Bears to within 64-59 with a minute to go, but a driving layup by Moretti with just 39 seconds left to play thwarted any hopes of a BSU comeback.

UMass shot 42% (23-55) for the game and finished 15-for-23 (65%) at the stripe.

After scoring just 21 points over the first 20 minutes, Bridgewater bounced back with a 41-point second half. The Bears connected on 44% (17-39) of their field goal attempts over the final two quarters including 7-for-17 (41%) from three-point range.

In upcoming action, the Bears will host the BSU Cave Classic Tip-Off Tournament on Friday and Saturday, while the Corsairs open Little East Conference play on Saturday afternoon (1:00 PM) at Southern Maine.